It was George Eliot's ambition to create a world and portray a whole community--tradespeople, middle classes, country gentry--in the rising fictional provincial town of Middlemarch, circa 1830. Vast and crowded, rich in narrative irony and suspense, Middlemarch is richer still in character and in its sense of how individual destinies are shaped by and shape the community.
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Born Mary Ann Evans, Victorian novelist George Eliot (1819-1880) is the author of a number of remarkable works, including the masterpiece Middlemarch.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An Extraordinary Masterpiece Of 19th Century England & The Industrial Revolution,
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This review is from: Middlemarch (Hardcover)
George Eliot, (nom de plume of Mary Ann Evans), wrote a literary masterpiece with "Middlemarch." This Barnes and Noble hard cover edition is a good one, however I would recommend their newer, paperback publication with an Introduction by author and poet Lynn Sharon Schwartz, or the Penguin Classic version. There is also a brief biography of George Eliot included in the B&N paperback. This superb novel will always rate 5+ Stars for me, but this particular edition is not the best.
Ms. Eliot created here, an entire community in England in the mid-1800s and called it Middlemarch. She populated this provincial town with people of every station, local squires and their families, tradespeople, the rising middle class, (Middlemarch, right?), & the poor and destitute, ruthless and honest. She crowded them together, with all their ambitions, dreams and foibles, in this magnificent literary soap opera, and wove a wonderful web of plots and subplots. Ms. Eliot also wrote scathing social commentary and used great wit. The fortunes of Middlemarch are rising in this new era when machines and trains - fast, available transportation - are changing the world, the economy, the politics. Rigid social codes, the British class system, is in danger of being breached. Folks are out to make a quick buck, or a shilling - anything to acquire wealth and enhance social position. Dorothea Brooks lives in Middlemarch. She is an intelligent, sensitive young woman, who wants to dedicate her life to important endeavors. She does not want to settle for a typical marriage and family, but looks toward a more noble cause. As a woman, a professional life is not open to her, nor is the pursuit of intellect, outside of marriage. She weds the elderly Rev. Casaubon, a cold, narcissistic man, thinking that by assisting him with his scholarly research and writing, she will find happiness. Dr. Lydgate comes to Middlemarch to begin his medical practice there. He is an idealist, who has dreams of finding a cure for cholera and opening a free clinic. He meets blonde and beautiful Rosamund Vincie, who fancies him for a spouse...along with a new house, new furniture, an extensive wardrobe, etc. A dashing, romantic Will Ladislaw, nephew of Rev. Casaubon, enters the story, as does Rosie's brother Fred, who wants desperately to marry his Mary, but is out of work and in debt. This cast of richly drawn characters continues to grow with the introduction of Mary's family, the Garths, the banker Bulstrode, friends, relations, and an evil villain or two. This complex novel and portrait of the times, is one of the best reading experiences I have had in a long while. I cannot recommend it highly enough. JANA
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant eloquence,
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This review is from: Middlemarch (Hardcover)
I read Middlemarch 30 years ago for a highschool assignment. It was over my young head. Making it through the 900 pages was like climbing a mountain and back. It took me about 600 pages to get into the book, and hundreds of pages were devoted to the politics and goings on of the time - something I had little interest in. A more mature reader would probably have found that fascinating.
YET - Of all the books I have read and heard through the years, it is a few sentences in this book that captured my heart more than any other anywhere. See what you think: "That element of tragedy which lies in the very fact of frequency, has not yet wrought itself into the coarse emotion of mankind; and perhaps our frames could hardly bear much of it. If we had a keen vision and feeling of all ordinary human life, it would be like hearing the grass grow and the squirrel's heart beat, and we should die of that roar which lies on the other side of silence. As it is, the quickest of us walk about well wadded with stupidity." (Middlemarch, a few paragraphs into Chapter 20.) For writing and insight like that, people make pilgrimages. Eliot's writing has thousands of brilliant paragraphs that are stunning in their eloquence and clarity.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dazzling insight, observations, and language,
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This review is from: Middlemarch (Hardcover)
Eliot (the pen name of Mary Anne Evans) dazzles with the life in the simple nineteenth century English town of Middlemarch. Eliot's work shines in many ways. Human behavior and life and motivations are told in both amazingly perceptive observation and pinpoint accuracy language. She tells a good story and has engaging characters. This reader found the opening chapter, describing sisters Dorothea and Celia of such luminous descriptive power that its sheer overwhelming quality overshadowed the meanings. Only after settling into the book could one enjoy the characters and events because the awe-inspiring writing became a given. The rich characters are drawn from a variety of the times' social strata, wealthy and poor, young and old, wise and uh, not so wise. They're humans who face the challenges of life, misfortune, the consequences of divergent thinking/acting contrary to public opinion, gambling, secrets, and of facing romance and matrimonial commitment with its varied turns, and many issues of growing up and making choices. Yes, there's more than one good love story going on and it's none too surprising finding out that Eliot is a woman given the depth and insights she elaborates about women's relationships, internal thoughts, and roles with men in this society still very much male dominated. Eliot's magic with words necessarily means keeping a dictionary handy. The principal characters draw one in well, for this reader, particularly Dorothea and Lydgate, and even lesser characters such as Mr. Garth and his family, the dynamics of the Vincy family, and the Farebrother family. Religion and politics and relationships all add to the mix, are written well, and only deepen the reader's enjoyment. Simply terrific. Worthy of its status as a classic and great book.
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